Gainesville employee issued city card despite criminal history

A Gainesville city employee who was arrested last month on suspicion of credit card fraud had a previous arrest history that city officials knew about before she was hired.

Natwaina Clark, 33, was arrested March 28 by Gainesville Police after city officials noticed suspicious activity on Clark’s city-issued credit card, as well as cards of her co-workers that she had borrowed. She faces grand theft and scheming to defraud charges.

City Auditor Carlos Holt and police are investigating about $86,000 in charges made on Clark’s city card, as well as $31,000 charges made on other city employees' cards.

“It’s obviously a great concern for a lot of reasons,” Mayor Lauren Poe said Friday.

Clark faced similar charges for scheming to defraud and burglary in Orange County, Florida, before being arrested in Leon County on an outstanding warrant in 2008, according to records obtained by The Sun. She was charged with seven felonies upon arrest.

Those charges — later dropped — were discovered during Clark’s background check, Gainesville city records show.

Leon County court records show Clark pleaded no contest to giving law enforcement false identification. Arrest records show Clark told police her name was Ashley Renee Clark and provided a driver's license with that name, but with a photograph of someone clearly not her.

Clark received probation and a judge withheld adjudication, records show. All the other charges were ultimately dismissed.

City spokesman Chip Skinner said city employees with past criminal charges or convictions are typically placed in jobs that would limit the city's risk. For instance, someone with a DUI would not be assigned to drive a city vehicle.

However, Clark, who was hired in 2015, worked as a staff specialist for the city’s parks, recreation and cultural affairs department, headed by Director Steve Phillips, and was asked to make purchases for the department.

Poe said there were several red flags with Clark, which should have prevented her from having access to accounts.

“If what we suspect is true, then there are some internal safeguards that did not work and we need to remedy that,” he said.

Aside from unauthorized purchases made on her own city card, city officials believe Clark used other employees' cards, a violation of city policy.

Purchase records show Clark received at least $22,000 though PayPal and paid about $900 to Cox Communications. Some of the purchases were made during a time while Clark was in her first six months on the job. She received her own city-issued credit card in March 2016.

Poe said the city needs to look both at policies for financial controls and how well they are practiced. Expense reports filed by employees are supposed to be reviewed and approved by two levels of supervisors.

Clark’s application with the city does not indicate whether Clark acknowledged her previous arrest.

In 2015, the city commission unanimously elected to follow a national trend known as “ban the box.” Applicants for city jobs no longer need to self-report criminal charges or convictions.

Although Poe said he supports the move, he was not a member of the commission at the time the rule passed.

“You give everyone an equal opportunity to get their foot in an interview, then you follow up and ask those questions,” he said.

Advocates for "ban the box" policies say people with a criminal history can fit in some jobs even if they don't qualify for others.

The city of Gainesville has roughly 2,000 employees, including those at Gainesville Regional Utilities. City officials said their internal investigation on Clark should be complete in the next few weeks.

“From my perspective, from a much bigger issue, is what do we do to make sure this doesn't happen again?” Poe said.